Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth
Share Embed Flag
Download ePaper

Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

radicaltruth.net
from radicaltruth.net More from this publisher
06.06.2014 Views

124 The Life of Muhammad By their breaking the acacias and shrubs of al-i;;ifal.l,' And its bushes too, as they galloped like flying ostriches. Is there any better refuge for one who seeks it? Is there a righteous god-fearing man who will grant it? OUf aggressors get their way with us, and wish. . That the gates of Turk and Kabul' were blocked wIth our bodles. You lie, by God's house, we will not leave Mecca, and go forth, Until your affairs are in confusion. You lie, by God's house, Muhammad shall not be maltreated;3 Before we shoot and thrust in his defence, We will not give him up till we lie dead around him, And be unmindful of our wives and children; Until a people in arms rise and fight you, . As camels carrying water rise under empty water-skms, 4 Until you see the enemy falling face down in his blood From the spear thrust weighed down and tottering. By God, if what I see should become serious Our swords will mingle with the best of them In the hands of a young warrior, like a flame, Trustworthy, defender of the truth, hero, For days, months, a whole year, And after next year, yet another. What people, confound you, would abandon a chief, . Who protects his dependants? No foul-mouthed weaklmg, A noble man, for whose sake the clouds drop rain, The support of orphans, the defence of widows, Hashim's family, ready to perish, resort to him, There they find pity and kindness. Asid and his firstborn made us hated And cut us up for others to devour;5 Neither 'Uthman nor Qunfudh sympathized with us But obeyed the command of those tribes. I This line is very difficult, as C.'s notes show. Unfortunately the note, of Abu Dharr to the effect that ~ifaQ. is a place.name is omitted. This seems to me to proVIde th~ key to the meaning of the line. Yaqut says that al-~ifa1J. lies between l;Iunayn and the plll~rs of the Haram on the left of a man entering Mecca from Mushash. As the latter place hes on the hills of 'Arafdt the rendering given above seems to suit the context. On the site of l:Iu~ayn see Yaqut sub voce. Wei! evades the difficulty, and so, strangely enough, does Suhayh. If al-$ifal) is the plural of $afb, the side of a mountain, I cannot see how the passage can be construed. :l The commentators say that Turk and Kabul are two mountains, but I can find no mention of them in Yiiqut, who under 'Kabul' quotes a line from al-A'sha which clearly refers to Turk and Kabul as people. It looks as if the two names ~oint t~ a later forge~. 3 I follow the reading of the Lisiin. The text apparently means We wIll not be forCibly deprived of M:. . . -4 Or 'rattling, swishing water-skins'. If the companson refers. to. the spe.ed of th~lr attack, the simile which Abu· Dharr favours is correct. If not, the slmde rests 10 the n01se whic~ the armed men make. S A figure for'malicious slander'. The Life of Muhammad 125 They obeyed Ubayy and the son of their 'Abdu Yaguth, And did not observe what others said of us; So, too, were we treated by Subay' and Naufal, 175 And everyone who turned away from us, not treating us kindly. If they throw down their arms, or God give us the better of them, We will pay them measure for measure. That fellow Abu 'Amr would do naught but hate us, To send us away among shepherds and camel-drivers; He talks about us confidentially night and morning. Talk on, Abu 'Amr, with your guile! He swears by God he won't deceive us, But we see him openly doing nothing else; He hates us so much that the hill-tops Between Mecca's hills and Syria's forts Are too narrow to hold him. Ask Abu'l-Walid, what have you done to us with your slander Turning away like a deceitful friend. You were a man by whose opinion men guided their lives, And you were kind to us, nor are you a fool. a 'Utba, do not listen to an enemy's words against us; Envious, lying, hating and malicious. Abu Sufyan averted his face from me as he passed, Sweeping along as though he were one of the great ones of the earth, He betook himself to the high ground and its cool waters, Pretending that he does not forget us. He tells us that he is sorry for us like a good friend, But he hides evil designs in his heart. 0, Mu!,im! I did not desert you when you called for help, Nor on the day of battle when mighty deeds were called for, Nor when they came against you full of enmity, Opponents Whose strength matched yours. o Munm, the people have given you a task to do, . I too when entrusted with a task do not try to evade It. God requite 'Abdu Shams and Naufal for us With evil punishment quick and not delayed, With an exact balance, not a 'grain too little, The balance its own witness that it is exact. Foolish are the minds of people who exchanged us For Banu Khalaf and the Ghaya!il.' We are the pure stock from the summit of Hashim And the family of Qu~ayy in matters of import. Sahm and Makhzum stirred up against us Every scoundrel and low-born churl. 'Abdu Manaf, you are the best of your people, 176 J See page J33 of the Arabic text where this line is quoted and explained.

126 The Life of Muhammad Do not make common cause with every outsider. You have proved feeble and weak And done a thing far from right. You were till lately the sticks under one pot But now you are the sticks under many pots and vessds. Let the Banu 'Abdu Manaf get satisfaction from partmg from us, Deserting us and leaving us imprisoned in our quarters! If we are men we shall take revenge' for what you have done And you will suffer the full effects of war. The best men among Lu'ayy b. Ghalib, Every bold chief exiled to us; The family of Nufayl is the worst that ever trod the earth, The most contemptible of all the sons of Ma'add. Tell Qusayy that our cause will be blazed abroad, And giv~ Qu~ayy the good news that after us there will be a falling apart (among our enemies). Yet if calamity befell Qu~ayy one night, We should have been the first to protect them; If they fought bravely in defence of their houses, We should show them how to protect the mothers of children. Yet every friend and nephew on whom we ought to count We find useless when put to the test Except for certain men of Kilab b. Murra Whom we exempt from the stigma of the deserter;' I Or 'bear a grudge'. according to another reading. :I We came to them by night, they all 8cattered. Every liar and fool disappeared from our sight. Ours was the watering-place among them, We are the rock-like defence of Ghalib. The young men of the scented ones and Hiis~im Are like sword blades in the hands of the pohshers. They took no revenge, nor shed blood, Nor do they oppose any but the worst tribes. In their fighting you see the youths Like fierce lions quarrelling over lumps of meat; Sons of a favourite Ethiopian- slave girl. Sons of ]umal::J.. 'Ubayd Qays b. 'Aqil; But we are the noblest stock of lords Whose heroic deeds were sung in verse. These seven verses are not in W.'s text, Bnd as he does not mention them in hkcritic~l notes it may be assumed that none of his manuscripts contained .them. Further, there IS not a note in Abu Dharr's commentary, and it is difficult to. behev.e that he. ,:oul? have passed over the extraordinary word hindikiya without a note, If the hne contammg It ~ere before him. I.H. at the end of the poem indicates that he has cut out some verses, possIbly (though I think most improbably) these verses were among them, and even so.he s~ys some authorities reject the greater part. It w~ll at once be apparent tha~ the seven hnes mterrupt the sequence of thought which deals w:th the honourable exceptlOns to the general defec~ tion. In v. 4 I conjecture khiilafu for balafu. .' . • Hindikiya. Greek and Syrian writers use the term India for South Arabia and EthlOpla and a slave girl from one of those countries is almost certainly indicated here. The suffix k is the Fehlavi suffix. See A. Jeffery, Foreign Vocabulary afthe Quran, Baroda, 1938, pp. 15 f. and 18 f. The Life of Muhammad 127 Undeniably fine is Zuhayr, our nephew, A sword loosed from belts, The proudest of the proudest chiefs, Belonging to the finest stock in glory. I'faith I am devoted to A!].mad and his brethren, As a constant lover. 1 For who among men can hope to be like him When judges assess rival claim to merit, Clement, rightly guided, just, serious, The friend of God, ever mindful of Him. By God I but that I might create a precedent' That would be brought against our sheikhs in assemblies, We would follow him whatever fate might bring, In deadly earnest, not in idle words. They know that our son is not held a liar by us, And is not concerned with foolish falsehood. A!].mad has struck so deep a root among us That the attacks of the arrogant fail to affect him. I shielded and defended him myself by every means (172).' The Ghayalil are of B. Sahm b. 'Amr b. Hu~ay~; Abu Sufyan is I.l;Iarb 177 b. Umayya; Mul'im is I. 'Adiy b. Naufal b. 'Abdu Manaf; Zuhayr is I. Abu Umayya b. al-Mughira b. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar b. Makhzum, his mother being 'Atika d. 'Abdu'l-Mullalib. Asid and his firstborn, i.e. 'Attab b. Asid b. AbU'I-'I~ b. Umayya b. 'Abdu Shams b. 'Abdu Manar. 'Uthman is I. 'Ubaydullah the brother of Tal!].a b. 'Ubaydullah al-Taymi; Qunfudh is I. 'Umayr b. Jud'." b. 'Amr b. Ka'b b. Sa'd b. Taym b. Murra. Abu'l-Walid is 'Utba b. Rabi'a; and Ubayy is aI-Akhnas b. Shariq al-Thaqafi ally of B. Zuhra b. Kilab (173),' AI-Aswad is I. 'Abdu Yaghuth b. Wahb b. 'Abdu Manaf b. Zuhra b. Kilab; Subay' is I. Khalid brother of B. al-l;Iarith b. Fihr; Naufal is I. Khuwaylid b. Asad b. 'Abdu'I-'Uzza b. Qu~ayy. He was I. al-'Adawiya, one of the 'satans' of Quraysh. He it was who roped together Abu Bakr and Tal!].a b. 'Ubaydullah when they went over to Islam. They got the May he never cease to be an adornment to the people of the world, An ornament to those whom God has befriended. Not in W. and undoubtedly an interpolation from a pious reader. ~ There is much to be said for the commoner reading, 'but that I might bring shame'. 3 C. adds: The Lord of mankind strengthen him with his help, And display a religion whose truth holds no falsehood! Noble.men, not swerving from right. whose fathers Brought them up in the best of Ways. Though Ka'b is near to Lu'ayy The day must come when they must fall apart. These verses are lacking in W.'s version. 4 This and the following paragraph stands under the name of I.H., but the context luggesUthat they are in part at least from LI.

126 The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />

Do not make common cause with every outsider.<br />

You have proved feeble and weak<br />

And done a thing far from right.<br />

You were till lately the sticks under one pot<br />

But now you are the sticks under many pots and vessds.<br />

Let the Banu 'Abdu Manaf get satisfaction from partmg from us,<br />

Deserting us and leaving us imprisoned in our quarters!<br />

If we are men we shall take revenge' for what you have done<br />

And you will suffer the full effects <strong>of</strong> war.<br />

The best men among Lu'ayy b. Ghalib,<br />

Every bold chief exiled to us;<br />

The family <strong>of</strong> Nufayl is the worst that ever trod the earth,<br />

The most contemptible <strong>of</strong> all the sons <strong>of</strong> Ma'add.<br />

Tell Qusayy that our cause will be blazed abroad,<br />

And giv~ Qu~ayy the good news that after us there will be a falling<br />

apart (among our enemies).<br />

Yet if calamity befell Qu~ayy one night,<br />

We should have been the first to protect them;<br />

If they fought bravely in defence <strong>of</strong> their houses,<br />

We should show them how to protect the mothers <strong>of</strong> children.<br />

Yet every friend and nephew on whom we ought to count<br />

We find useless when put to the test<br />

Except for certain men <strong>of</strong> Kilab b. Murra<br />

Whom we exempt from the stigma <strong>of</strong> the deserter;'<br />

I Or 'bear a grudge'. according to another reading.<br />

:I We came to them by night, they all 8cattered.<br />

Every liar and fool disappeared from our sight.<br />

Ours was the watering-place among them,<br />

We are the rock-like defence <strong>of</strong> Ghalib.<br />

The young men <strong>of</strong> the scented ones and Hiis~im<br />

Are like sword blades in the hands <strong>of</strong> the pohshers.<br />

They took no revenge, nor shed blood,<br />

Nor do they oppose any but the worst tribes.<br />

In their fighting you see the youths<br />

Like fierce lions quarrelling over lumps <strong>of</strong> meat;<br />

Sons <strong>of</strong> a favourite Ethiopian- slave girl.<br />

Sons <strong>of</strong> ]umal::J.. 'Ubayd Qays b. 'Aqil;<br />

But we are the noblest stock <strong>of</strong> lords<br />

Whose heroic deeds were sung in verse.<br />

These seven verses are not in W.'s text, Bnd as he does not mention them in hkcritic~l<br />

notes it may be assumed that none <strong>of</strong> his manuscripts contained .them. Further, there IS<br />

not a note in Abu Dharr's commentary, and it is difficult to. behev.e that he. ,:oul? have<br />

passed over the extraordinary word hindikiya without a note, If the hne contammg It ~ere<br />

before him. I.H. at the end <strong>of</strong> the poem indicates that he has cut out some verses, possIbly<br />

(though I think most improbably) these verses were among them, and even so.he s~ys some<br />

authorities reject the greater part. It w~ll at once be apparent tha~ the seven hnes mterrupt<br />

the sequence <strong>of</strong> thought which deals w:th the honourable exceptlOns to the general defec~<br />

tion. In v. 4 I conjecture khiilafu for balafu. .' .<br />

• Hindikiya. Greek and Syrian writers use the term India for South Arabia and EthlOpla<br />

and a slave girl from one <strong>of</strong> those countries is almost certainly indicated here. The suffix k<br />

is the Fehlavi suffix. See A. Jeffery, Foreign Vocabulary afthe Quran, Baroda, 1938, pp. 15 f.<br />

and 18 f.<br />

The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> 127<br />

Undeniably fine is Zuhayr, our nephew,<br />

A sword loosed from belts,<br />

The proudest <strong>of</strong> the proudest chiefs,<br />

Belonging to the finest stock in glory.<br />

I'faith I am devoted to A!].mad and his brethren,<br />

As a constant lover. 1<br />

For who among men can hope to be like him<br />

When judges assess rival claim to merit,<br />

Clement, rightly guided, just, serious,<br />

The friend <strong>of</strong> God, ever mindful <strong>of</strong> Him.<br />

By God I but that I might create a precedent'<br />

That would be brought against our sheikhs in assemblies,<br />

We would follow him whatever fate might bring,<br />

In deadly earnest, not in idle words.<br />

They know that our son is not held a liar by us,<br />

And is not concerned with foolish falsehood.<br />

A!].mad has struck so deep a root among us<br />

That the attacks <strong>of</strong> the arrogant fail to affect him.<br />

I shielded and defended him myself by every means (172).'<br />

The Ghayalil are <strong>of</strong> B. Sahm b. 'Amr b. Hu~ay~; Abu Sufyan is I.l;Iarb 177<br />

b. Umayya; Mul'im is I. 'Adiy b. Naufal b. 'Abdu Manaf; Zuhayr is I.<br />

Abu Umayya b. al-Mughira b. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar b. Makhzum, his<br />

mother being 'Atika d. 'Abdu'l-Mullalib. Asid and his firstborn, i.e.<br />

'Attab b. Asid b. AbU'I-'I~ b. Umayya b. 'Abdu Shams b. 'Abdu Manar.<br />

'Uthman is I. 'Ubaydullah the brother <strong>of</strong> Tal!].a b. 'Ubaydullah al-Taymi;<br />

Qunfudh is I. 'Umayr b. Jud'." b. 'Amr b. Ka'b b. Sa'd b. Taym b.<br />

Murra. Abu'l-Walid is 'Utba b. Rabi'a; and Ubayy is aI-Akhnas b. Shariq<br />

al-Thaqafi ally <strong>of</strong> B. Zuhra b. Kilab (173),'<br />

AI-Aswad is I. 'Abdu Yaghuth b. Wahb b. 'Abdu Manaf b. Zuhra b.<br />

Kilab; Subay' is I. Khalid brother <strong>of</strong> B. al-l;Iarith b. Fihr; Naufal is I.<br />

Khuwaylid b. Asad b. 'Abdu'I-'Uzza b. Qu~ayy. He was I. al-'Adawiya,<br />

one <strong>of</strong> the 'satans' <strong>of</strong> Quraysh. He it was who roped together Abu Bakr<br />

and Tal!].a b. 'Ubaydullah when they went over to Islam. They got the<br />

May he never cease to be an adornment to the people <strong>of</strong> the world,<br />

An ornament to those whom God has befriended.<br />

Not in W. and undoubtedly an interpolation from a pious reader.<br />

~ There is much to be said for the commoner reading, 'but that I might bring shame'.<br />

3 C. adds:<br />

The Lord <strong>of</strong> mankind strengthen him with his help,<br />

And display a religion whose truth holds no falsehood!<br />

Noble.men, not swerving from right. whose fathers<br />

Brought them up in the best <strong>of</strong> Ways.<br />

Though Ka'b is near to Lu'ayy<br />

The day must come when they must fall apart.<br />

These verses are lacking in W.'s version.<br />

4 This and the following paragraph stands under the name <strong>of</strong> I.H., but the context<br />

luggesUthat they are in part at least from LI.

logo

products

Resources

Company

Terms of service
Privacy policy
Cookie policy
Cookie settings
Imprint
Change language
Made with love in Switzerland
© 2024 Yumpu.com all rights reserved

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!